The inquest in to Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand last weekend continues, Gerry Thornley hearing Johnny Sexton express his disappointment over the failure of the team to transfer their good work on the training ground in to the game in Chicago. He’s hopeful, though, that things will click against Japan on Saturday when he expects a bit of line-up tweaking.
Like Sexton, Rónan Kelleher expects better on Saturday too, the hooker talking to Johnny Watterson, but Ireland will be without Stuart McCloskey, a groin injury ruling him out. Based on his performance against the All Blacks, though, an impressed Gordon D’Arcy believes “it will be hard to push him aside on his return”.
In football, Tuesday’s draw put the Republic of Ireland’s women in a World Cup qualifying group with France, the Netherlands and Poland, head coach Carla Ward relieved to have avoided the one that contains Spain and England, the mother of all groups of death.
And in the build-up to Sunday’s FAI Cup final, Gavin Cummiskey hears from Shamrock Rovers’ double-seeking manager Stephen Bradley. A busy week it is for him and his players too - they’re away to AEK Athens in the Conference League on Thursday and will only get back to Dublin in the early hours of Friday morning.
Gordon D’Arcy: This Irish system operates off thin margins – in Chicago it was exposed
Seán Moran: Australian rules clubs abandon former courtesies in recruiting young GAA stars
Ireland v Japan: Kick-off time, TV details, squad news
Owen Doyle: Unwarranted Tadhg Beirne dismissal highlighted a problem in rugby officiating
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran looks at the “the old controversy about young Irish players signing up for Australian rules clubs”, while Gordon Manning has news on Dublin playing National Football League double headers in Croke Park alongside Meath, the latter homeless while Navan’s Páirc Tailteann is being redeveloped.
In racing, Brian O’Connor looks back on Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup when Joseph O’Brien’s Goodie Two Shoes had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Half Yours, Jamie Melham becoming just the second female jockey to win the race. And he has word on the possibility of Gordon Elliott giving Brighterdaysahead her eagerly anticipated first start over fences at Gowran on Saturday.
TV Watch: RTÉ 2 has live coverage of the Republic of Ireland’s opening game at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar against Panama (kick-off 12.30pm). While Brian Kerr led underage sides to unprecedented success in various age-groups, this is the first time Ireland have qualified for the under-17 finals.
Later in the day, there is another batch of Champions League ties to choose from. Among them are Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund (RTÉ 2, Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1), Newcastle v Athletic Club (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 2) and Club Brugge v Barcelona (TNT Sports 4), all kicking off at 8.0.
